pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Arthur Symons
Arthur William Symons (28 February 1865 - 22 January 1945), was an English poet, literary critic, and magazine editor. Life Symons was born in Milford Haven, Wales, of Cornish parents. He was educated privately, spending much of his youth in France and Italy. In 1884-1886 he edited 4 of Bernard Quaritch's Shakespeare Quarto Facsimiles, and in 1888-1889 seven plays of the "Henry Irving" Shakespeare. He became a member of the staff of the Athenaeum in 1891, and of the Saturday Review in 1894, but his major editorial feat was his work with the short-lived Savoy. Symons contributed poems and essays to the Yellow Book, including an important piece which was later expanded into The Symbolist Movement in Literature, which would have a major influence on William Butler Yeats and T.S. Eliot. In 1892, The Minister's Call, Symons's first play, was produced by the Independent Theatre Society – a private club – to avoid censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's Office.[http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~simmers/symchron.htm Arthur Symons: 1865–1945 - A Chronology] accessed 15 January 2009 From late 1895 through 1896, Symons edited The Savoy, a literary magazine which published both art and literature. Noteworthy contributors included Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and Joseph Conrad. In 1902 Symons made a selection from his earlier verse, published as Poems. He translated from the Italian of Gabriele D'Annunzio The Dead City (1900) and The Child of Pleasure (1898), and from the French of Émile Verhaeren The Dawn (1898). To The Poems of Ernest Dowson (1905) he prefixed an essay on the deceased poet, who was a kind of English Verlaine and had many attractions for Symons. In 1909 Symons suffered a psychotic breakdown, and published very little new work for a period of more than 20 years. Writing His first volume of verse, Days and Nights (1889), consisted of dramatic monologues. His later verse is influenced by a close study of modern French writers, of Charles Baudelaire, and especially of Paul Verlaine. He reflects French tendencies both in the subject-matter and style of his poems, in their eroticism and their vividness of description."Symons, Arthur," Encyclopædia Britannica 1911, Volume 26. Wikisource, Web, Mar. 5, 2017. Pall Mall Gazette: "Mr Arthur Symons is a very dirty-minded man, and his mind is reflected in the puddle of his bad verses. It may be that there are other dirty-minded men who will rejoice in the jingle that records the squalid and inexpensive amours of Mr Symons, but our faith jumps to the hope that such men are not." Pall Mall Gazette, 2 Sep, 1895. Arthur Symons, Snakeskin Poetry Webzine. Web, Nov. 28, 2013. Publications Poetry *''Days and Nights. London & New York: Macmillan, 1889. *Silhouettes. London: L.C. Smithers, 1892. ** revised and enlarged, London: L.C. Smithers, 1896. *London Nights. London: L.C. Smithers, 1895. *Amoris victima. London: L.C. Smithers ; New York: G.H. Richmond, 1897. *Images of Good and Evil. London: Heinemann, 1899. * ''The Loom of Dreams. London: privately published, 1901. *''Poems'' (in 2 volumes). London: Heinemann, 1902; New York: John Lane, 1902. Volume 1, Volume 2. *''A Book of Twenty Songs. London: Dent, 1905. *The Fool of the World, and other poems. London: Heinemann, 1906. New York: John Lane, 1907. * ''Lyrics. Portland, ME: T.B. Mosher, 1907. * Silhouettes. Portland, ME: T.B. Mosher, 1909. *''Knave of Hearts, 1894-1908. London: Heinemann, 1913. * ''Lesbia, and other poems. New York, Dutton, 1920. *''Love's Cruelty''. London: Martin Secker, 1923. * Poems: Volume 3. London: Martin Secker, 1924. *''Jezebel Mort, and other poems''. London: Heinemann, 1931. Plays *''Tragedies. London: Heinemann, 1916. *Tristan and Iseult: A play in four acts. London: Heinemann, 1917. *The Toy Cart: A play in five acts. Dublin: Maunsel, 1919. *''Outlaws of Life: a play. Two worlds Vol. 1, no. 1 (Sept., 1925) Non-fiction *''An Introduction to the Study of Browning. London & New York: Cassell, 1887. *Studies in Two Literatures. London: L.C. Smithers, 1897; Portland, ME: T.B. Mosher, 1911. *Cities. London: Dent / New York, J. Pott & Co., 1903. * ''Plays, Acting and Music: A book of theory. London, Duckworth, 1903; New York: Dutton, 1909. * Stephane Mallarme. Portland, ME: T.B. Mosher, 1903. *''Studies in Prose and Verse. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1904. *Spiritual Adventures. London: A. Constable, 1905. *Studies in Seven Arts. London: Constable, 1906; New York: Dutton, 1906. * ''William Blake. London: A. Constable, 1907. * Cities of Italy. New York, Dutton, 1907. *''The Symbolist Movement in Literature'' . London: A Constable, 1908; New York; E.P. Dutton, 1919. ** (with introduction by Richard Ellman). New York: Dutton, 1958. * Maeterlinck as a Mystic. Portland, ME : T.B. Mosher, 1908. * Dante Gabriel Rossetti. New York & Paris: Brentanos, 1909. * The Romantic Movement in English poetry. New York: Dutton, 1909. *''Figures of Several Centuries. London: Constable, 1916. * ''Colour Studies in Paris. New York: Dutton, 1918. * The Art of Aubrey Beardsley. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1918. * Cities and Sea-coasts and Islands. New York: Brentano's, 1918. *''Studies in the Elizabethan Drama. New York: Dutton, 1919. *Charles Baudelaire: A study. London, Elkin Mathews, 1920. * ''Dramatis Personae. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1923. * The Cafe Royal, and other essays. Westminster, The Beaumont Press, 1923. * A Study of Thomas Hardy. London, C.J. Sawyer, 1927. * Studies in Strange Souls. London, C.J. Sawyer, 1929. *''Confessions: A study in pathology''. New York, J. Cape & H. Smith, 1930. * Wanderings. London & Toronto: Dent, 1931. *''A Study of Walter Pater''. London, C.J. Sawyer, 1932. Edited *Mathilde Blind, *''A Selection from the Poems. London: T.F. Unwin, 1897.Search results = au:Mathilde Blind, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 30, 2017. *Leigh Hunt, ''Essays. London: Walter Scott, 1887; London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1903. * The Savoy. London. **January 1896. ** April 1896. ** July 1896. **September-October 1896. *Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Poems, London: Methuen & Co., 1905. *Ernest Dowson, The Poems (illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley). London: John Lane; New York: Dodd, Mead, 1905. * A Sixteenth Century Anthology. London: Blackie, 1905. * A Pageant of Elizabethan Poetry. London: Blackie, 1906. * The Hellenics, and Gebir. London: J.M. Dent, 1907. *John Clare, Poems. London: H. Frowde, 1908.Search results = au:John Clare, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 21, 2013. *Ernest Dowson, The Poems and Prose. New York: Modern Library, 1919. Collected editions * The Collected Works. London, Martin Secker, 1924. *''Poetry and prose'' (edited by Roger Victor Holdsworth). Cheadle, UK: Carcanet Press, 1974. * Selected Writings (edited by R.V. Holdsworth). New York: Routledge, 2003. Letters * Letters to W.B. Yeats, 1892-1902. Edinburgh: Tragara Press, 1989. * Selected Letters, 1880-1935 (edited by Karl E. Beckson & John Murchison Munro). Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan, 1989; Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 1989. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results=Arthur Symons, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Web, July 28, 2012. See also *List of British poets *List of literary critics References External links ;Poems *Arthur Symons at the Poetry Foundation *Arthur Symons in the Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse: "The Ecstasy," "Indian Meditation," "The Turning Dervish" *Symons in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "At the Three Fountains," "To a Grey Dress," "Dreams" *Symons in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895: "At Fontainebleu," "Javanese Dancers," "During Music," "To a Portrait" *6 poems by Symons: "Autumn Twilight," "A Winter Night," "September Idyl," "Episode of a Night in May," "The Coming of Spring: Madrid," "In Fountain Court" *Symons, Arthur (9 poems) at Representative Poetry Online. * Arthur Symons at Snakeskin (12 poems) *Arthur Symons at PoemHunter (121 poems). *Poems by Arthur Symons at BlackCat (100 poems). *Poems by Arthur Symons at AllPoetry (228 poems). ;Prose *"The Dramatisation of Song" ;Books * *Arthur Symons at the Online Books Page ;About *Arthur Symons in the Encyclopædia Britannica * Arthur Symons at NNDB. *Arthur Symons, 1865-1945: A chronology *[http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~simmers/symons1.htm Snakeskin: The Arthur Symons Page]: includes several poems by Symons * Original article is at Symons, Arthur Category:1865 births Category:1945 deaths Category:British poets Category:People from Milford Haven Category:19th-century poets Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets